Letters: December 5

County landfill's a racket

Pulled a trailer containing various junk to the county dump the other day. Drove 70 mph on I-10 to get there.

The lady looked at the load and said she would have to charge an unsecured fee of $6 in addition to the dumping fee. The pallet on top of the load was not tied down. If it did not blow off on I-10 at 70 mph, how can it blow off on the dump service road at 15 mph?

My friend pointed out that 100 cars paying $6 more per load, per day, times six days adds up to real money in a month for the county. On top of that, after paying, the lady said she did not have any coin change, so she only gave paper change, no coins. What a racket.

- James HendricksonPensacola

Pensacola

Free markets

Sadly for liberty, many concepts espoused in "The Ten Planks of The Communist Manifesto" have become so ingrained in modern America that few realize how much our constitutional republic has been perverted into a quasi-socialist bureaucracy where the rule of law has been replaced by the rule of personality.

Integral to the 10 planks is the anti-free-market concept of Central Planning. Essentially, Central Planning demands fealty to the state at the diminution of individual plans - we no longer own ourselves when our plans interfere with those of our new overlords.

Free markets most naturally reflect our God-given free will. Voluntary associations - groups of individuals gathering under the flag of united self-interest - are the antithesis of Central Planning. American government exists for but three important purposes: protection of life, liberty and property. If laws may be put aside based on expediency, and if our leaders act as if they're exempt from the same laws, what integrity have they? If life isn't sacred to your government, then how much do you think they value personal liberty? And if you've no guarantee of life or liberty, then you can be stripped of property.